On the heels of red cross reports of torture, as a god-fearing American, I ask why do we pay the salaries of a bunch of torturers, murderers and crooks?
In a shameless pitch for a book that I wish I had written, I suggest that part of the answer can be found in Howard Friel and Richard Falk's book about the New York Times. They show how the NY Times, the country's `paper of record', ignores international law in its coverage when we're talking about US behaviour.
It's like election fraud, if it's in the Ukraine we can talk about it. Whether it's war in Iraq, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Panama, or even little Grenada - does anyone really understand what the f* that was about? It's like we're invading a seaside community in Florida or something.
But for a detailed record of the failure to report international crime in the US, see The Record of the Paper: How the New York Times Misreports US Foreign Policy.
Howard Friel and Richard Falk show in nauseating detail how the NY Times has missed the story for 50 years now. (I guess they ran out of paper or figured 2 volumes was enough to make the argument. ) Not just missed the story but failed to tell the story. Jason Blair may have made things up, but at least he knew he was lying.
My cousin's a journalist. A couple of years ago I asked him why the papers missed the big stories. He tells me, "It's not true, we do follow the important stories. Things like XXXX are just a blip on the radar screen."
OK, I say. So then I ask him what are the other blips that aren't news. You know things like fraud, corporate welfare, international law, etc.
And the list goes on until he hits something really important. At that time it was OJ Simpson.
But times change, although he still doesn't invite me for dinner.